


Zigeunerweisen

by Glowstar826



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Brother-Sister Relationships, Classical Music, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dead People, Death, Death Eaters, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Good Severus Snape, Happy Ending, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Humor, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, James Potter is a Good Friend, Light Angst, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, Lily Evans Potter is a Good Friend, Lily Evans Potter-centric, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Minor Character Death, Music, No Incest, No Romance, No Sex, No Slash, No Smut, POV Lily Evans Potter, Past Character Death, Piano, Reconcile, Sibling Love, Some Humor, Tragedy, Truce, Violins, Young James Potter, Young Lily Evans Potter, Young Love, Young Severus Snape, composer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:36:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstar826/pseuds/Glowstar826
Summary: After Lily's parents are killed by Death Eaters, she starts to find comfort in a certain Slytherin's violin playing.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape
Kudos: 25





	Zigeunerweisen

Lily wiped the tears from her face as she ambled her way through the seventh floor corridor. The news was still reeling in her mind. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact that she'd never see either of her parents again. Earlier that day, Professor Dumbledore had told her the terrible story of how Death Eaters had found her home in Cokeworth, destroyed it, and destroyed her mum and dad along with it. Petunia had been at uni when this happened, so she wasn't harmed. James had tried to comfort her after dinner, but she told him that she just needed to be alone, so he respected her wishes and let her be.

As Lily skulked past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, she stopped. There was some sort of beautiful violin music coming through the door on the opposite wall. Intrigued, Lily went up to the door and placed her ear against it. She immediately got goosebumps as she heard the practically flawless intonation and impeccable tune, and she became curious as to who exactly could be capable of such masterful playing. She closed her eyes, taking in the different chords and notes which blended together to make the perfect melody. As she listened to it more, the more curious she became. Unable to take the suspense any longer, she cracked the door open just enough so that she could find out who this amazing violinist was.

Lily felt her eyes widen as she saw her former friend, Severus Snape, deep in concentration as he held the violin bow with a reverence only an experienced player could have. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she slowly shut the door. Unfortunately, it clicked loud enough for the playing to be stopped.

"Who is it?" she heard Severus call. Lily, not wanting to be caught by her ex-best friend, ran away as fast as she could.

For the next few nights, Lily found herself secretly listening to Severus's violin playing. It soothed her and helped her grieve for her parents in a way that no one else could do. It was ironic, seeing as this was her former friend who was unknowingly helping her through this terrible time.

By the fifth night, walking down the seventh floor corridor after curfew was second nature to Lily and a part of her nightly routine. When she looked for the door, though, something was different. The wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy was just that: a wall. No door, no painting, nothing. It was completely clear of anything that might've been able to occupy it.

Scrunching up her face in confusion, Lily went up to the wall to investigate it. How could a door just simply disappear? Lily knew that there were many strange things in this castle, like rotating staircases or moving paintings. Maybe this was just another one of those strange things?

"So _you're_ the one who's been spying on me."

Lily froze. She didn't recognize the voice, but she still knew who it was. The last time she and Severus talked, he was a repentant mess. Now, his voice carried an air of confidence. It was much deeper, more precise. The fear or frustration that usually lingered in it was gone. What replaced that was a hardness that she never heard before in her life. It scared her. Slowly, Lily turned around. She saw that he was holding his violin case. Not knowing what to say, she remained silent.

"Well?" asked Severus, tapping his foot expectantly.

Lily gulped. "I...I don't know." Her eyes focused on his shoes. She started shaking when she saw those black shoes walk a little closer to her. Suddenly, she was fighting very hard not to cry. _This isn't the same Sev you knew before. He's different now. More dangerous. More angry._ Lily squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a terrible burning sensation behind them. In a final effort to keep her tears at bay, she clamped her teeth together and clenched her fists.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Severus's voice was much softer. He sounded genuinely concerned, but Lily knew better. He didn't care. He called her a Mudblood, so why should he?

"N-nothing," she forced herself to say. She started shaking her head. "Nothing is wrong." Quickly, she turned around and started to walk away. She stopped when she heard Severus call, "Wait. Please, don't walk away again." Now, his voice was pleading with her. Again, she turned back around. This time, she forced herself to look directly at Severus's onyx tunnels. He looked right back at her.

"I can tell something's wrong." Severus's face hardened. "Please tell me."

Lily's eyes narrowed into slits. "You of all people should know," she told him contemptuously.

"What? How would _I_ know? We haven't spoken for two years!" Severus replied confusedly.

Lily breathed in and out shakily. "My parents," she gritted out, "are dead." It was the first time she had verbally acknowledged it, and now that she did, she wanted nothing more than to bawl her eyes out.

To her shock, the blood drained from Severus's face. "Harry...Iris...oh, God..." He wrung his hands, set the violin case he was holding down on the floor, and started pacing, grabbing at chunks of his hair. "No...they...no, no, no..." For the first time in Lily's entire life, she saw Severus Snape stop in the middle of the corridor and start to cry.

Lily watched with a grim fascination as he held his face in his hands while she heard his strangled cries of agony. She never knew that Severus had cared so much for them. Lily started when he looked up at her, his eyes red and his complexion blotchy. "H-How?"

Lily looked at the ground and mumbled, "Death Eaters."

"What?" Severus asked, not hearing her.

"DEATH EATERS!" Lily screamed. "DEATH EATERS BROKE INTO MY HOUSE AND KILLED THEM!" Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, holding her face in her hands. "They...they killed them..." Trailing off, she started sobbing harder than she had ever sobbed before. A few seconds later, Lily felt thin arms wrap around her, and she leaned into them, not caring that she and Severus were no longer friends. She just needed someone to hold her, someone who could perfectly understand how she was currently feeling, someone who just _knew_ her inside and out. Even though she and Severus hadn't been friends for two long years, they shared something special for the other seven that they were. Severus instinctively knew when to hug her and when to be wary of her, and Lily knew the same about Severus.

The former friends remained silent as Lily's body wracked from her sobs. Honestly speaking, Lily thought that Severus would leave once she started crying, but it felt good to receive comfort from him. Oh, how she missed his hugs.

"I'm sorry," Severus murmured shakily. Lily didn't know what he was apologizing for, though. Was he apologizing, yet again, for calling her a Mudblood? Was he apologizing for hanging out with those Death Eater scum? Was it both? Was he expressing regret for not listening to her? What _was_ it?

Lily felt her shoulder become damp, and she shifted her position to hug Severus back. As soon as she put her own arms around him, his hold on her became tighter. No one else was in the corridor. It was just them, crying together as one.

"It's...not too late, you know," Severus said suddenly, his voice still raw with emotion.

Lily pulled away and set her hands on her lap. "What do you mean?"

"I...I can defect from them. Just not openly."

Lily frowned. "Defect from who?"

Severus suddenly became rigid. Lily could tell he was going to tell her something that she'll hate forever.

"Please," Severus started, his voice quieter and more insecure, "don't run away or scream or hex me. You don't know how much I hate myself already." Quickly, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled up his left sleeve, and there it was. The horrid, vile skull with the snake coming out of its mouth. The Dark Mark.

Lily blanched. "W-When?"

"Last summer. I was of age, so they accepted me into their ranks. I was stupid. So horribly, irrevocably stupid. Your parents' deaths proved that." Severus sighed.

Lily's eyes started to burn again, but she shot Severus her fiercest look. "Why? Just...why?"

Severus put his head into his hands. "I don't know," he mumbled. "I don't fucking know. Whatever good thoughts I had about them before now cease to exist."

Lily's face softened. "Severus, why _were_ you playing the violin? All those nights I listened to you, you played so beautifully. I felt whatever emotion you felt as you played." Lily chuckled quietly. "Funnily enough, not even James could comfort me. Your playing really helped me grieve after I found out about my parents."

If Severus felt triumph, it didn't show. "To answer your question, playing the violin helped _me_ grieve as well. It helped me come to terms with the fact that my life won't ever be the same. My stupid life is worthless now, you see. No one will give me a job, no one will trust me, and they're right to. I'm a Death Eater, after all."

Lily threw her arms around him. "Sev, don't _say_ that!" she choked out, using his old nickname. "Don't _say_ that! You haven't done anything yet, have you?"

Severus pushed Lily away. "I have not," he said, his voice eerily calm. "That's the only thing I've got going for me if I want to convince Dumbledore to let me spy for him."

"Spy?" asked Lily. Severus nodded.

"Severus, I have one last question."

A beat. "Yes?"

Lily smiled shyly. "Will...will you play something for me?"

Severus smirked. "All right. If you want me to. Let me just call the room." The Slytherin picked up his violin case and stood up. He paced in front of the blank wall three times and watched as the small wooden door materialized in front of them. Opening the door, he said, "After you." Lily went inside, and her jaw dropped. She had just entered a recital hall, and there was a grand piano in front of her. Also in front was a music stand with some sheet music.

"Sev...this is beautiful. There's a stage and everything. How do you do it?"

"It's called the Room of Requirement," Severus said from behind her. "It gives you whatever you need whenever you need it. You just have to think about what you want while pacing in front of the wall three times like I did just now."

"Well, I'll just sit in the audience." Lily started to walk down the stage steps to sit in one of the cushioned chairs when Severus stopped her.

"This particular violin piece needs an accompaniment on the piano, hence why it is there. You know how to play, right?" Lily nodded.

"I practice diligently at home every chance I get."

"Good. Very good. There's some sheet music on the piano. The sight-reading is fairly easy." Severus smiled. "Just look over it and run through it once or twice. Whenever you're ready to play, just tell me. The piece, by the way, is called _Zigeunerweisen_. It was written by Pablo Sarasate, a Spanish Muggle composer."

Lily gave Severus a thumbs-up and walked over to the piano. She looked at it, running her fingers over the keys. Sitting on the stool, she looked over the notes and sight-read the music. After practicing for almost thirty minutes, she looked over at Severus, who was also warming up.

"I'm ready," said Lily. Severus nodded.

"I'll count us in." The Slytherin cleared his throat. "One...two...ready...begin!"

Lily started pressing the keys on the piano as Severus started drawing his bow across his violin.

The Gryffindor and the Slytherin played harmoniously together. Even as Lily was pressing her fingers on the keys, she felt goosebumps as she heard Severus's perfect tremolos, chords, and intonation. If she closed her eyes, she'd think that a great violinist were playing the piece. She noticed that Severus handled the bow very carefully and delicately, yet so much sound came out of the instrument. There came a part in the music where Lily felt tears in her eyes because of the sheer beauty of Severus's playing, and she almost stumbled on her own chords because of it. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she realized that she had honestly craved spending time with Severus before breaking their friendship. For the first time, she realized how regal he looked when playing the violin. She also realized how _handsome_ he looked compared to fifth year. _A lot has changed_ , she thought.

When Lily and Severus played the last chord, they smiled at each other.

"That. Was brilliant," said Severus as he started to put his violin back in its case.

"You could say the same for yourself, Sev," said Lily, getting up from her stool. "I nearly cried."

Severus grinned. "Really?" Lily nodded.

"Thank you. I don't know what I would've done if it weren't for you and your violin."

Severus placed a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Don't mention it, Lily. I'm glad I could make you feel better."

Lily pulled Severus into a tight embrace and smiled into his shoulder. "Can we be friends again? I missed hanging out with you."

The pair pulled away. "But aren't you dating Potter?" Severus asked. There was no malice in his tone.

Lily sighed. "He's repentant. He grew up. He doesn't hex the younger students anymore."

Severus's face darkened. "He still hexes _me_."

Lily frowned. "But James says you hex _him_."

Severus crossed his arms. "We hex each _other_ , actually. He probably knows I have the Dark Mark, or something. I don't know how, but…"

Lily shook her head negatively. "No. He doesn't know. He'd probably back off if he knew you were planning to spy for Dumbledore, though," she finished with a smile.

Severus remained silent. Then, "We should go, Lily. It's past curfew, and I'm not the Head Boy _or_ a Prefect."

"But I'm Head Girl. You won't be in trouble." Lily smirked.

Severus shrugged and opened the door to let Lily through. As soon as she got outside, though, she gasped. There was her boyfriend, standing with his Quidditch-toned arms linked across his chest, leaning against the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Surprisingly, though, he had a cheerful smile on his face.

"Feeling better, Lils?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to ask what I'm doing here? With Severus?"

James shrugged. "I don't need to. I heard everything. I didn't think either of you could play music, though. It sounds amazing!" He started to clap his hands together in appreciation. "Well done!"

Severus and Lily shared a nonplussed look on their faces.

James just laughed and shook his head, looking at Severus. "I'm not hexing you, Snape. I _am_ a bit concerned about the Mark, though."

Severus gulped and hung his head. "I was foolish. If I could, I'd travel back in time and stop myself."

"Better late than never," said James. Then, his face turned serious. "I'm sorry, you know. Sorry for the stuff my friends and I did to you. I swear, when I started dating Lils, that's when I _finally_ realized how awful I was. I know _I_ wouldn't have done any of the stuff we did to you to anybody else, so that makes me a hypocrite, I guess." He sighed. "I still can't believe myself. Me, an advocate against all things dark and evil, mercilessly hung a defenseless wizard upside down and humiliated him. I'm sorry I judged you, Snape. I really shouldn't have." James ran a hand through his messy hair. "Lils, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me hexing Snape this year. I...I just thought that he went dark, so he deserved it. I mean, I was _right_ in a sense, but it was still wrong." Lily could tell that James was truly sorry, and her heart warmed at the sight. James turned back to Severus.

"Snape, I know we've had our differences...but I'd like to start over. We'll be fighting on the same side anyway, so we shouldn't hold grudges. What do you say? Can we have a truce?" James had a hopeful smile on his face.

Lily turned to Severus, and she saw that his mouth was gaping. Giggling lightly, she brought his jaw up. Then, she stepped away and watched the scene unfold.

Severus tentatively made his way over and slowly held out a shaky hand. James grasped it and shook it vigorously. "Thanks for helping Lily. I really appreciate it." Severus nodded in response, still in shock of what was happening.

After the two stopped shaking hands, James asked, "Your playing was marvelous, I must say. What _was_ that piece?"

" _Zigeunerweisen_ ," mumbled Severus.

James's face contorted with confusion, and Lily couldn't help herself. She started giggling once more. James turned to Lily with a fake pout on his face. "Zay-GOO-ner-vie-zen?" he said, trying out the new word. Severus nodded, confirming that his pronunciation was somewhat correct. Lily noticed that he was trying very hard to suppress laughter, and she smiled.

"Come on. Let's go talk to Dumbledore," James told Severus jovially.

Severus's blood drained from his face. "N-now?"

"No, next year. Of _course_ we're going now! You're of age, aren't you?" Severus nodded.

"Let's go, then!" James placed an arm around Severus's shoulders (for he was slightly taller than Sev) and started walking with him down the corridor to the Headmaster's office. He turned around to look at Lily. "I'll meet you back at the common room, Lils!" he called.

"All right!" Lily called back. As she turned back to head to the Gryffindor Tower, she smiled to herself. Who knew that James and Severus could get along so easily? She certainly didn't.

Lily was in better spirits than she had been at the beginning of the week. She got her best friend back, James and Severus were no longer fighting, and Sev finally saw sense and stopped believing in You-Know-Who. To think it was all because of him and his violin. She turned back and saw the said pair standing in front of the gargoyle. The gargoyle stepped aside, and it let the two wizards in. The witch grinned, realizing that miracles actually _do_ exist, and this was one of many that were to come.

**Author's Note:**

> **_Zigeunerweisen_ by Pablo Sarasate is a beautiful piece. If you want to hear the best version, look up SoHyun Ko's performance on YouTube. I promise you, you'll get goosebumps.**


End file.
